Kiwi Ben, our southern hemisphere correspondent, has sent us over a DVD of Rolf Kelly on Metlako Falls, Eagle Creek, Oregon. This is a classic big waterfall run, and the clip shows kayaks and a tube. Some pics of the run have been around for a while, here is the full story! If you thought Backbarrow bridge in a rubber dinghy was hardcore, how about an 80ft waterfall in a rubber ring !!! Check out the media gallery  to see  the Kiwi's in action.

As range life put it;

"With little or no hesitation Rolf sat on his tube that he just pumped by hand with the bicycle pump he borrowed from Todd Anderson. I have never witnessed someone commit to a waterfall of that size so quickly before. He literally sat in the tube and with a few bicycle kicks and backstrokes, he was in the main current committed to Metlako Falls. Coming off the lip he went for the rocking chair style boof (a technique so new and advanced most innertube waterfallers are unfamiliar with it) He boofed and went for the gold. He almost stomped it and held tight onto his tube, but on impact -- which Rolf said
'was f##king hard' -- he "watermelon-seeded" ass first through the middle of the tube. Afterward Rolf said, 'It didnt even hurt that bad.' " -eric b;

I suppose it saves all that tedious messing arond with the oregon tuck ;-).  Right angle falls is nicer to swim than paddle so I guess there is something in the tube theory !

Hi and sorry for lack of activity recently. Weve got a load of footage on various hard drives and tapes at the minute. I need to have good sort out and post some stuff up, but I awarded myself some time off the computer, and bravely ventured forth into the sunshine. This summer is already dragging on, and its only April! The rivers look like they have never even seen water, so I had to hit the hills, and walk and cycle uphill. This bizarre behaviour is actually causing me to get fitter and the kayakers pale skin and wheezy lungs are starting to disappear.

Still, the rest of the world starts to get water now, so I can keep dreaming. Also I might check out what's been happening on the surfing front cos these new boats look pretty interesting. If anyone has footage of what the surf scene looks like then I'd be interested to see, and stick it up.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw this old footage of a rescue from a small flat hole. It looks like the kind of thing that we see plenty of here, and its surprisingly viscious. Still I guess not throwing your paddle away on entry would probably have helped!

I was at Teeside the other day (getting desperate already-  besides my excuse was I needed to go over that way anyway!), and apart from reminding myself how shallow it is, and that I had as much fun paddling the Jefe as a playboat, the thing that struck me is that there are far more ladies doing the sport now. Check out this website aimed at female boaters. Just to make the point that there are some ladies out there going really hard, here is  Nikki Kelly (amongst others) on the 'everest of rivers', the Stikine, here is day two of the trip (come back here as I couldnt find link) and last, but not least, the 'big' day 3!.